The Lambertville record., 1887-08-03

embers were roasted eggs, corn-ears and
! ! other edibles, and after dusting away the
! ! ashes these relishes were counted as the
! best.
! After the temporary house was bull
the clearing must begin. Large trees
were girdled to kill them, and smaller
!. : ones fell tops together and were burned
J and as the settlement became thicker
: and the clealings more extended, days
y were fixed on, and ON invitation tht
neighbors would go to the place of theil
: friend, having what they called frolic
: for telling trees, rolling logs and burn
= ing them to clear tho ground. The
: women folks, to do their part, would ge
:. up good supper-pot. pie made of veni
! son, and good coffee, for rarity, made
: OF burned or scorched rye.
After living in the little pioneer hut OIL
! II or Ia feet square for year or more
: : and the clearing Of few acres covered
with growing crops, the next thing in
!, order was to build more permanent log
: house, many OF which stood for more
than hundred years, and later build.
ings OF the kind can yet be seen to-day.
. White oak sapliDg trees, about ten inches
IN diameter, cut in lengths Of % or "a
feet, notched at the ends. were laid up a
little higher than q mans head, as the
walls OF the house the roof was made
on rafters hewn from smaller trees, pitch
cd from the centre each way, and cover
ed with rived lath and shingles, and tho
gable ends from the square, with rived
weatherboards running up and down.
These houses were OF the one-story
| order, and occasionally ono was built
| more elaborate, with two rooms on the
floor, which lengthwise required longer
logs. The partitions between rooms con
sisted of blankets or curtains suspended.
An easy matter then to make rooms large
or small, and even more of them. The
windows were few and small, and until
| glass 7x9 were comatable, the creased
paper or thin linen filed the bill for
window.lights. 10 this second addition
of houses there was great improvement
in doors, for instead of blanket or can
vas to close the forasaen magnuai, q
wooden door was hung on wooden hinges,
the boards of which were carefully rived
out of choice timber with froe.
The floor was made as usual Of split
logs, dressed, laid with the split side up.
The Fireplace was always built on an ex-
tended scale, reaching in length the
RAta0th VI bAlb AOuHGt ON6If Wll1tu WAS
placed large wooden mantelpiece, hewn
out of white oak tree as large as 16x24
inches, on which that side OF the stone
chimney was built. The floor or bottom
OF the fire place was made of large, choice
hearth stones, sometimes brought from .
miles away. II was one of the adorn-
ments to have fine hearth, neat jambs
and mantelpieee.
The chimney was so constructed that IL
was utilized for many purposes. From
front to back, about q foot above the top
Oh the mantel-piece, were walled in at
each end a piece Of timber, or long
stone II It could be found to suit, upon
which rested the lug.pole, to which were
suspended the pot-hoolss and trammels
always In use in cooking and boiling, to
fress. On the inside Of Fhe man saes we're
driven one or more spikes to which fat
goose was often hung with tow-string in
front OF a lovely fire to roast, while on tho
hearth beneath was placed the dripping
pan to catch the dripping fat in the pro-
cess OF roasting and basting. In like man
ner turkeys and other poultry, pieces of
beef aud venison were nicely roasted, and
sometimes tho raccoon and opossum as
WE'LL
In this primitive fireplace much labor
was saved in cutting fuel. There was
the backlog, often full length, and 10 to
IL inches In diameter, brought in from
the wood pile on rollers, and to the front
OF tho large andirons was laid the fore
stick, often as much as two mon could
carry, while between the backlog and the
forc-stick were piled quantities of long
wood, which, when burned through the
middle, were chunked together till all con-
sumed. Around those fires, high piled
upon the hearth, sat tho CHEEKY family
many a cold winter evening; the mother
and girls with spinning wheels at fax and
tow and the father and boys with tow on
their knees making yarn for ropes and
other purposes. These fires served tho
triple purposes OF light, heat and cooking,
and was good substitute for the indis-
pensable tallow dipped candle, then an
expensive necessity.
1t was over these fires chat the long
handled frying pan was so much in use.
The cook could keep at comfortable dis
tance from the Goals and turn the pan
cake by tossing IL up tho chimney and
catching 1t down side up as II reached the
pan.
In sleeping, beds were used 10 the living
room with much economy. There was tho
bed in one corner and under IL the trundle
bed; against the wall tho turn-up bed,
which, when used, took up much OF the
floor, and when not in use was entirely
adjusted out of the way. These beds
were dressed with straw and feather ticks,
linen sheets and woolen blankets, and for
the piercing cold Of mid-winter many used
q comforter made by stretching together
a linen sheet and wooden blanket, which
was filled in with the down of water
fowls aud placed upon the bed for top
covering.
For clothing, wool and linen were in
common use, except for few who wore
buckskin breeches. Tho wool from sheep
that with care did we'll and linen from
flax that never grew better than it did
here ON new cleared ground, was their
whole dependence. Wool was carded In
TO rolls by hand, and spun on the old-tme
spinning wheel. For sheets, shirts, tow
OILS and summer clothing linen was In gen
eral use. Quite every wife and daughter
was an expert at the spinning wheel, aud
not few Of them did good work with a
loom.
To prepare the fax when grown, our
men and boys would pull, thrash, bleach,
break and dress it, and it was no small
art to understand. To give il the Nation
al cooring it was stepped in dye made
of bark from the butternat tree, and the
cloth made was called linsey woolsey,
much used for men and boys clothes, and
for women quite the same, except the col
ering was made a good substantial plaid.
Men wore the sailor coats or round
about coats extending to the waistband,
with short legged trousers mounted with
large brass buttons, brought from the
The women folks wore short
gowns and petticoats, a neat dress for ia
and outdoor work. The common hood
and sun bonnet for the women, the fur
caps and straw hats for the men and boys,
III shod With cowhide shoes, gave to our
sarly settlers everywhere the appearance
II a new Nationality.
AS all this wearing apparel was home
pun, wore and made, there was variety
n the makeup from top to bottom: The
,oonskin cap, the beaver bonnet, fur muf-
lers and moccasin shoes; and even soma
;lra laoroo HavancL and hfa vvifo Rn